I've worked my handicap down to an 11. I'm by no means a great golfer, but today I shot a 96 on my home track. Felt like I haven't ever played this game before. Absolutely nothing in my game is reliable and my confidence is non-existent.

Possibly the worst part of it is that it isn't like it is only one thing. The club just never feels good in my hand.

I feel stupid for letting it get to me, but it seriously just makes me feel bad.

I need to do something to get out of this slump. This is three rounds in a row that I've shot in the 90s. I don't really know what to do other than spend some time practicing. Start with putting and just work back from there.

Take 5-10 strokes off your game in 30-60 days by spending time chipping and putting. Do it for at least an hour and at least twice per week. I used to hate doing this, but now I love it. I know....we've all been told this a hundred times before. But doing it is another matter. After you start holing two or more chips in a row, smile at yourself when you see others around the practice green start watching you. ANYONE can do this, full swing is a different matter.

If you decide not to get lessons going forward, watch some videos and try to build a repeatable full swing on the range. Building a swing has been the most rewarding thing I've done in golf, even though it has been a long road. Incremental improvements are victories and are to be enjoyed.

Are you thinking too much? I find when I get in a rut you just need to step up and whack it without thinking.


Think titties and beer before you swing.

This thing is definitely mental. It's not like I've taken a long layoff or anything. One day I'm shooting in the low 80s and now I can't break 90 for three rounds in a row. I haven't forgotten how to play, I just don't have confidence in what I'm doing.

I have a new mindset now that I'm several hours removed from that disaster. This is just new motivation to get out and practice. I'm going to get to work starting tomorrow. I'll begin with two footers and work back from there.

Heading into this golf season I would like to take a more structured approach to practicing like that ultimate routine or "How to Break 80" plan that Golf Digest or Golf Magazine put out a few years ago. May as well get that going. I would like to be playing really solid golf before I head to Scotland in late April. Plenty of time if I get to work.

I'm right there with you man.

I usually shoot 85 +/-4 but the last two or three times I've played I've shot over 95. I'm in a bad slump and I've got toga get out.

My plan to hit the range with nothing but 7 iron and work this wish out. That's the only thing I can of right now... More practice sessions as opposed to just playing.

T&P please

In times like that I usually tee off with the longest club I know I can hit a fairway with. Sometimes it's just a 7 iron. I then lay up on par fours and even twice on par 5's. My next goal is to just hit the green and two out for a bogey. Sometimes I make par but mostly I have tap in bogeys. This routine helps me relax and just enjoy something different but it also keeps me from the really high numbers.

I was jean van de velde yesterday...

par 3 tournament at my club... they turned all the holes into par 3...

I was even going into last hole and knew I was winning.

hit my tee ball into a back bunker up on the downslide.

bladed that into the hazard in front of the green. then chubbed into the hazard from the other side (yellow stakes).

made an 8 and lost the tournament by 3.

didn't want to drop again in the bunker as was afraid it would bury...

oh well. ,its golf

I understand where you are coming from. I felt like I was playing the best golf of my life in June of this year. And now I feel like I'm playing the worst golf I've played in 10 years.

Having to play a miss is so frustrating. I'm holding off my follow through. I'm dipping into the swing. I'm not rotating my hips. All things that are correctable, but I can't get far enough away to see how to fix it.

Going to take my first lesson in probably 10 years after the new year. Have to get this figured out.

I'm in a rut but it is during the round. Yesterday was the classic example. Good attitude and mindset starting out, was one under through 7 coming off a birdie. From the fairway, 160 yards out I double, then hit a poor drive and couple of bad shots for another double to finish off 9, then reel off 5 straight bogeys, several of those I was in the fairway with a good approach distance. Throw in another double hitting a half assed shot into the pond that shouldn't even have been in play and I finish at an 83.

Definitely thinking too much.

I feel your pain OP. I am hitting my driver and irons better than I ever have in my life (short chipping and putting inconsistent). I have strung together several very solid rounds in a row, so I am just waiting for one of those blow up rounds where the iron starts to feel like a foreign object in my hand and I approach 100+.

Take 2 weeks off then quit or at least ask for more sand since you're inflating your stats

Shooting mid 90s isn't an 11 handicap

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Take 2 weeks off then quit or at least ask for more sand since you're inflating your stats

Shooting mid 90s isn't an 11 handicap

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I see the winking face but I'm not sure what you're saying.

Tiger is inflating his stats, too. He says he's won 14 majors but he shot 77 this month.

I'm an 8, on ghin, and shot a 99 on day 1 of our club championship last month. I should get a shovel to empty the sand!

This year has been the biggest f/ing roller coaster ride in terms of scores for me. Was playing my best golf last March and got down to a 6 hc. Then spent the Summer and Fall shooting 1 decent round a month with a lot of mid to high 80's sprinkled in. I played the worst round in years last Saturday and will probably be back to a double digit HC the way things are going.

Every time I think I've broken out of a slump by shooting a good number, I follow it up with some really bad golf.

What I'm saying is that you should take a break to recharge. After all you don't want your handicap to go up more than it probably already has with these 90s rounds considering that courses in Scotland especially in saint Andrews require a verified handicap I think of less than 18 for you to be able to play. All Players will have to have a verified handicap of sub 20ish to play

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What I'm saying is that you should take a break to recharge. After all you don't want your handicap to go up more than it probably already has with these 90s rounds considering that courses in Scotland especially in saint Andrews require a verified handicap I think of less than 18 for you to be able to play. All Players will have to have a verified handicap of sub 20ish to play

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If he's an 11 a 90+ round is really no different for his handicap than around 85.....

Disagree / one round in the 90s won't affect someone shoots mid to high 80s, three rounds of escalating degree in the 90s will bump up your handicap a stroke or two

Handicap requirement for The Old Course is 24 for men. I think I'll be fine.

I had a great run over the summer with about ten straight rounds of shooting under 85 including several 81s and an 80, but those won't fall out of my handicap calculation for another 12 rounds or so. I don't get out to play a lot during football season. This bad run has only bumped me half a stroke.

Also, I haven't played a round with my club counting toward my "OFFICIAL" handicap since August. That index is something like a 14 or 15 anyway.